


Love Goes Down The City

by astrovivir



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: 80s Music, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asperger’s syndrome, Autistic Jeremy, Fluff and Angst, I’m p sure bmc takes place in the late 80s / early 90s, Light Angst, Sensory Overload, Stimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 07:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12626334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrovivir/pseuds/astrovivir
Summary: Jeremy hears almost everything at the same volume. It causes lot of sensory overloads which can cause meltdowns.





	Love Goes Down The City

**Author's Note:**

> You guys seemed to like my last autistic!jeremy fic so here’s another!

The first meltdown happened when Jeremy was 10.

  
He and his dad were walking through the grocery store, grabbing ingredients for dinner when it happened.

  
Mr. Heere had noticed that Jeremy was doing his repetitive movements and he was surprised when Jeremy suddenly stopped and stood still.

  
“Jeremy?”

  
He didn’t respond.

  
“Everything ok, bud?”

  
Jeremy shook his head.

  
“You wanna leave?”

  
He nodded frantically.

  
Mr. Heere lifted Jeremy up and started to make his way to the exit, but now that Jeremy was up he could see more people and he could hear more people.

  
It became too much for him and he started to cry. He started to scream and kick his legs.

  
At first, Mr. Heere thought it was a tantrum, but the way Jeremy screamed and kicked him gave it away.

  
A child would never go to these lengths during a tantrum.

  
So Mr. Heere didn’t react to this, he didn’t tell Jeremy to hush or to stop kicking him. He didn’t react to the slight sting of the kicks.

  
Once they got outside and to their car, Mr. Heere placed a still screaming Jeremy into the backseat.

  
And he waited..

  
And after a while Jeremy’s screaming quieted, but he was still crying.

  
“You ok now?” Mr. Heere asked.  
Jeremy shook his head.

  
“Do you.. wanna listen to music?”  
Jeremy looked up at his dad, confused.

  
Mr. Heere reached over to the front seat and grabbed some headphones and a Walkman.

  
He placed them over Jeremy’s ears and pressed play.

  
The song that played was We Built This City by Starship.

  
As soon as the song played, Jeremy’s crying quieted and he sat still.

  
He calmed down after a few seconds and began to bounce happily.

  
Mr. Heere let out a relieved sigh and got into the driver’s seat, driving off as Jeremy bounced happily in the car seat.

  
That was the first of many meltdowns.

 

* * *

 

Jeremy went through many meltdowns throughout elementary. He found different ways to calm down. The quickest way for him to calm down was to listen to music.

  
The meltdowns lessened as he got older, but they still happened. Just not as often.

  
He didn’t tell many people about his meltdowns, not even Michael who he trusted dearly.

  
He just couldn’t.

  
Despite his father’s protests, he refused to tell anyone.

  
“What if you have one and I’m not there to help you?” His father argued desperately.

  
“Dad, I can’t. They’d laugh at me and I don’t feel good when they laugh at me.” A 15 year old Jeremy argued back.

  
“Jere pleas-”

  
“Can we just drop it? Please.”

  
Mr. Heere, in defeat, let it go.

 

* * *

 

The inevitable happened at Michael’s house of all places.

  
Michael’s mother had burst into his room, yelling. Michael just yelled back at her.

  
“You said you would do it-“

  
“I did do it!”

  
“Obviously not!”

  
They yelled back and forth at each other.

  
Jeremy remained quiet, realizing how loud Ms. Mell and Michael were, how bright the lights were, and how the floor creaked whenever Ms. Mell stepped in the one particular spot. So much was happening all at once.

  
“Whatever! Whatever. I’m going for a bit, you better do it once I get back.” Ms. Mell said in annoyance.

  
“Fine!” Michael yelled out of pure spite.

  
“Fine!’ Ms. Mell stormed out, slamming the door shut once she left the house.

  
Michael groaned and fell back onto his bed

  
“Can you fucking believe her?! She thinks she can just come and go and yell at me like I’m some sorta-”

  
But Jeremy wasn’t listening. No, he couldn’t listen. There was so much going through his ears already. The lights were so brights. And..

  
And someone was saying his name.

  
Michael.

  
“Jeremy?”

  
“I gotta go to the bathroom.” Jeremy said quickly and practically ran out, locking himself in the bathroom with the lights off.

  
He put his hands over his ears and rocked back and forth.

  
He could hear the door and floor creaking as he rocked. He could hear the static coming from the lights around the house. He could hear the blood rushing through his ears and how shallow his breaths were. He could hear Michael’s footsteps coming down the hall and to the bathroom.

  
When Michael knocked on the bathroom door, it was awfully loud to Jeremy.

  
“Jeremy, I know you’re not ok because I can hear you practically hyperventilating in there.” Michael said through the door.

  
Jeremy didn’t reply. 

  
“Can I come in?”

  
“N-no.”

Jeremy heard Michael sigh then sit down on the floor, in front of the door.

  
“Is this something that comes with your Asperger’s thing?” Michael asked quietly.

  
Jeremy nodded, then realized that Michael couldn’t see him and said, “yes.”

  
“Is there anyway I can help-”

  
“Headphones.”

  
“What?”

  
“Head. Phones.”

  
Michael processed what he said for a few seconds then got up, walking to his room and grabbing his headphones.

  
He walked back over to the bathroom door, which was now slightly open, and peered inside.  
Jeremy had moved to the other side of the room, covering his ears with his hands, eyes closed, and rocking back and forth.

  
Michael slowly approached him and knelt down, putting the headphones in front of Jeremy and connecting it to his mp3.

  
Jeremy shakily took the headphones and put them on. Michael pressed play.

  
The song that played was Love Goes Down The Drain by The Monochrome Set, one of Jeremy’s favorite songs.

  
Jeremy’s rocking slowed down and gradually turned to bouncing. Michael just watched quietly, a smile forming on his face when Jeremy’s bouncing began.

  
When the song ended, Jeremy opened his eyes and looked at Michael.

  
“All good?” Michael asked.

  
Jeremy nodded, “all good.” He repeated back. 

  
Michael relaxed and scooted over to sit next to Jeremy.

  
They sat there in silence, listening to Michael’s music as Jeremy bounced happily.

**Author's Note:**

> 1.) idc how good parents are they still fight with their kids sometimes  
> 2.) idk what Michael forgot to do but mom is anger  
> 3.) mom probs came home and saw jere and mike asleep in the bathroom and didn’t have the heart to wake them up  
> (leave kudos and comments pls! love ya <3)


End file.
